The leading cause of cancer related mortality is metastatic spread of tumor cells to distant sites and the location of these sites varies considerably among different primary tumor types. Although there has been much investigation into the metastatic process, the multiple factors which drive progression of metastasis have not been fully elucidated.
The progression of cancer from an abnormal outgrowth to a life-threatening metastatic tumor is accompanied by a myriad of genetic and epigenetic alterations accumulated along the way. Multiple factors secreted by the primary tumor have been shown to have an impact on the formation of the pre-metastatic niche. However the full range of activities that such secreted factors can have on the pre-metastatic niche is unknown.
The importance of the interplay between the primary tumor site and modulation of the pre-metastatic niche has recently come to light as one such driving force of metastasis.
However the challenge of distinguishing crucial drivers of metastasis from thousands of by-stander alterations remains a major obstacle in the battle against cancer.
Therefore, there is a need for identifying factors that impact formation of the pre-metastatic niche in order to develop treatments to stop development of metastatic tumors.